Bedstead-fastening



UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEioE.

BENJN. HINKLEY, OF UTIOA, YORK.

BEDSTEAD-FASTENING.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 4,878, dated December l9, 1846.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known t-hat I, BENJAMIN'HINKLEY, of Utica, in the county of Oneidaand State of New York, have invented a new and useful Mode of Fasteningthe Round Tenons of Bedsteads and other Cabinet-Work, and that thefollowing is a full, clear, and eXact description of the principle orcharacter which distinguishes it from all other things before known andof the manner of making, constructing, and using the same, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of thisspecification, in

i which- Figure l is a vertical section through the two posts and onerail showing the manner in which they are united; Fig. 2, a section' I"tenon inserted in each end of the rails, the

spurs being made with sharp edges and inclined relatively to the aXis ofthe-tenon in the manner of the threads of a double threaded screw, sothat when these are inserted in the round mortise in the posts andturned they cut their way into the wood and form female threads therein;but as this operation is to be'performed at the two ends of each rail itwill be evident that unless the threads or spurs at each end enter theirappropriate mortises in the two posts at precisely the same distancefrom the shoulders of the tenons, and cut their way through the woodwith precisely the same speed that one shoulder will reach itsappropriate post before the other, and hence make one an imperfectjoint. Again, in all kinds .of bedsteads it is important that the railswhen fastened should have the pins to which the sacking is secured in agiven line or nearly so, which is difficult to be attained when thespurs or threads have to cut their way from the face of the posts to thedepth required to give the necessary strength. These are seriousdifiiculties, which are entirely avoided by cutting recesses on eachlside of the round mortise and to such a depth as to permit the insertionof the tenons with the spurs or threads thereon to the full depth of thetenon that the shouldermay rest against the post before it is turnedVtoffrnake, A

the spurs or threads cut their way into the wood, which in this case isa very short distance, just suiiicient to take the required hold. Bythis means close joints can be made at each end without any difficultyby inserting the tenons at each end into the posts, then by turning therails the spurs cut their way into the wood and at the same timecompress the wood that forms the recessesfor the shoulders restingagainst the face of the posts, the spurs cannot give way and hence thewood must; and it will be evident that this compression of the wood willprevent it from yielding any further afterward, which would not be thecase in the previous Inode. This method also insures the ready means ofretaining the sacking pins in their places. My invention also consistsin making the spurs of met-al and inserting them in the usual woodentenons'insteady of making the spurs and tenons in a single piece andletting it (the tenon) into the end of the rail, which not only reducesthe cost of making the spurs, but lessens the Y costv of Vinserting andsecuring them, and does not weaken the rail so much.

In the accompanying drawing (a) represents one of the rails of abedstead with a wooden tenon (b, b) inserted into a post (c, c) at eachend. On opposite sides of the tenon and at about 'an inch and a halffrom the shoulder there is inserted a small plate of cast iron (d, CZ)which is let into the wood flush and secured by a small wood screw orpin; from the surface of each of these plates projects a spur (e) whichis made similar to a segment of the thread of a screw except that theforward portion is gradually reduced down to the surface of the tenon,that it may the more readily be forced into the wood of the mortise toform a corresponding recess in the mortise by which it is held toprevent the tenon from' being drawn out of the mortise.

The mortise in the post is cut out on each side, as at (f, f), to admitythese spurs, and let them enter until the shoulder (g) of the railtouches the face of the post before the rail is turned to form therecesses for the spurs and insure a close joint at each end, and at thesame time obtain and retain a proper position for the sacking pins.

It will be obvious that the spurs may be Vmortises in the posts with`recesses for the admission of the spurs that the shoulders of the railsmay be brought up to the posts before the spurs are Worked into theWood, whereby perfect joints can be obtained at each end of a rail, andthe sacking pins be placed and retained, all substantially as described.

' BENJA. HINKLEY.

Witnesses:

A. P. BROWNE, J. J. GREENOUGH.

